Challenges for public communicators in Burkina Faso
Government communication professionals in Burkina Faso are being tasked with building ‘a powerful communication force’.
“The second session of the consultation framework between the Government Information Service and the directors of communication and press relations of the ministries took place last December”. At first glance, this might look like a routine meeting among French state communicators, but it actually concerns the coordination of government communication in Burkina Faso.
Public communicators in this West African country of nearly 25 million people are being asked to pool their knowledge, resources and experience to “build a powerful communication force”’ with the goal of shielding the population from disinformation and reinforcing trust between institutions and citizens.
Each ministry in Burkina Faso can pursue its own sectoral initiatives, but must always work in synergy with the Government Information Service. The aim is to ensure effective and harmonised government communication and to enhance the visibility of public actions.
Public communication serving power
At the meeting held on Friday, 12 December 2025 in Ouagadougou, the communications minister called for “omnipresent, effective communication that reassures citizens and supports these major transformations in line with the ideals of the RPP (Popular Progressive Revolution)”.
Burkina Faso is governed by the junta that seized power during the 2022 coup and which, on 29 January 2026, adopted a decree of total dissolution of all political parties in the country. The regime, which does not claim to be a democracy but positions itself as sovereignist, anti imperialist and decolonial, has moved to centralise both power and its communication.
Main photo: screenshot from a video on the Burkinabe Government Information Service (SIG) Facebook account.
